Table Of ContentApocalypse Revealed
Wherein are disclosed the arcana
there foretold which have hitherto
remained concealed
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
Volume 1
(Numbers 1–611)
Translated from the Original Latin by
John Whitehead
STANDARD EDITION
SWEDENBORG FOUNDATION
West Chester, Pennsylvania
© 2009 Swedenborg Foundation
This version was compiled from electronic files of the
Standard Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg as
further edited by William Ross Woofenden. Pagination of
this PDF document does not match that of the
corresponding printed volumes, and any page references
within this text may not be accurate. However, most if not
all of the numerical references herein are not to page
numbers but to Swedenborg’s section numbers, which are
not affected by changes in pagination. If this work appears
both separately and as part of a larger volume file, its
pagination follows that of the larger volume in both cases.
This version has not been proofed against the original, and
occasional errors in conversion may remain. To purchase the
full set of the Redesigned Standard Edition of Emanuel
Swedenborg’s works, or the available volumes of the latest
translation (the New Century Edition of the Works of
Emanuel Swedenborg), contact the Swedenborg Foundation
at 1-800-355-3222, www.swedenborg.com, or 320 North
Church Street, West Chester, Pennsylvania 19380.
Contents
Editor’s Preface
Author’s Preface
A Summary of the Doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church and
Religion
A Summary of the Doctrines of the Church and Religion of the
Reformed
Revelation 1
Revelation 2
Revelation 3
Revelation 4
Revelation 5
Revelation 6
Revelation 7
Revelation 8
Revelation 9
Revelation 10
Revelation 11
Revelation 12
Revelation 13
Critical Notes
APOCALYPSE REVEALED 1
Editor’s Preface
Apocalypse Revealed is a detailed unfolding of the inner or spiritual
sense of the book of Revelation. This is the first of Swedenborg’s
later works to which he appended so-called “memorable relations,”
which are descriptions of otherworld events he witnessed. In 1765
he had stopped writing in his Spiritual Diary—a work which
contains much similar material—and now in this 1766 work (and
all of his subsequent publications) he included accounts of such
happenings. In a letter written to his friend Dr. Gabriel Beyer in
April 1766 he recommended that the doctor read these passages
first.
This is the last work that Swedenborg published anonymously.
Unlike his incomplete treatise, Apocalypse Explained, written earlier
than Apocalypse Revealed but published posthumously, this work is
openly addressed to the Christian world, and thus marks an
apparently new attitude on Swedenborg’s part as to where the new
church was to have its origin.
This present edition was translated from the Latin by John
Whitehead. The text was electronically scanned from the
Swedenborg Foundation’s Standard Edition. This has allowed the
book to be completely redesigned and set in a new and more
readable typeface. Certain stylistic changes have also been
introduced. These include modernized spelling and punctuation as
well as the substitution of new words for terms whose meanings
have become obscure or have changed since the nineteenth century.
Arabic numerals have replaced roman numerals in Bible passages,
and certain capitalized words, including pro nouns referring to
God, have been lowercased to reflect contemporary usage. All these
changes have been carefully made in order to make the book easier
to read and use while preserving the dignity and power of the
original Latin. On the whole, however, the Whitehead translation
has not been materially altered.
A word needs to be said about the translation of the Scripture
passages in this work, some of which Swedenborg translated from
APOCALYPSE REVEALED 2
biblical Hebrew and Greek, others he cited from Latin Bibles in his
personal library. The reader will note that the archaic language of
the 1611 King James Bible, commonly called the Authorized
Version, has for the most part been retained in the Scripture
citations in this edition. Thus verbs will often have the suffix
“-eth,” and pronoun forms such as “thee,” “thou,” and “thine” are
retained. This custom, based on the almost universal use of the
King James version at that time, dates back to the earliest English
translations of Swedenborg. The decision was made by the early
translators to follow the familiar language of that Bible wherever it
did not conflict with the Latin of Swedenborg’s Scripture citations.
Although it would be desirable to update this language, these
citations appear so frequently that changing them throughout the
entire work would have required a major revision.
Volume 1 of Apocalypse Revealed begins Swedenborg’s verse-by-
verse explanation, or commentary, of the biblical text of the
Apocalypse, commonly known as the book of Revelation or the
Revelation of John. This volume covers chapters 1 through 13. As
was the custom in his day, Swedenborg referred to the Psalms as
the book of David, and to the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) as the books of Moses.
Numbers indicating the paragraph subdivisions used in John
Faulkner Potts’ six-volume Swedenborg Concordance (London:
Swedenborg Society, 1888–1902) are inserted in this American
edition for the first time. They appear in bracketed boldface type at
the beginning of paragraphs. The numbers in parentheses (6), (7),
etc., are divisions of the exposition by the author. Italicized letters
following a number (518a, 518b) are subdivisions added by the
Latin editor, Samuel H. Worcester. Words or phrases in brackets
are also editorial insertions into Swedenborg’s text. Critical notes,
referenced by superscripts in the text, will be found at the end of
the volume.
William Ross Woofenden
Sharon, Massachusetts
APOCALYPSE REVEALED 3
Author’s Preface
[1] There are many who have labored in the explanation of the
Apocalypse [Book of Revelation], but, as the spiritual sense of the
Word had been hitherto unknown, they could not see the arcana
which lie concealed therein, for the spiritual sense alone discloses
these; on which account expositors have conjectured various things,
and the most of them have applied the things that are therein to
the states of empires, intermingling also some things about
ecclesiastical affairs. But the book of Revelation, like the whole
Word, does not in the least in its spiritual sense treat of worldly
things, but of heavenly things, thus not of empires and kingdoms,
but of heaven and the church.
[2] It is to be known that after the last judgment, which was
accomplished in the spiritual world in the year 1757 (concerning
which see material published in a small work in London in 1758),
there was formed a new heaven from Christians; but only from
those who could receive the Lord as the God of heaven and earth,
according to his words in Matthew 28:18, and who at the same
time in the world had repented of their evil works. From this
heaven a new church on earth, which is the new Jerusalem, is
descending and will descend. That this church will acknowledge
the Lord alone is manifest from these passages in the book of
Revelation:
There came unto me one of the seven angels and spoke with me, saying,
Come, I will show you the bride, the lamb’s wife; and he showed me the great
city, holy Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God (Rev. 21:9–10).
And in another place:
Let us rejoice and exult; for the time of the marriage of the lamb is come,
and his wife hath made herself ready. Happy are they that are called unto the
marriage supper of the lamb (Rev. 19:7, 9).
APOCALYPSE REVEALED 4
That there is to be a new heaven and that the new church on
earth will descend therefrom is manifest from these words there:
I saw a new heaven and a new earth; and I saw the holy city Jerusalem
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband. He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new;
and he said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful (Rev.
21:1–2, 5).
The “new heaven” is the new church from Christians; the “new
Jerusalem” is the new church on earth, which will act as one with
that new heaven. The “lamb” is the Lord as to the divine human.
[3] To this something will be added for illustration. The
Christian heaven is below the ancient heavens. Into it, from the
time of the Lord, when he was in the world, were admitted those
who worshiped one God under three persons, and who at the same
time did not have an idea of three gods; and this was because the
trinity of persons had been received in the whole Christian world.
But they who cherished no other idea of the Lord’s human than as
the human of another man could not receive the faith of the new
Jerusalem; which is that the Lord is the only God in whom is the
trinity. These were for that reason separated and sent away to the
extremes; it was given me to see the separations and the removals
after the last judgment. For the whole heaven is founded upon a
just idea of God, and the whole church on earth, and in general all
religion; since by that idea there is conjunction, and by conjunction
light, wisdom, and eternal happiness.
[4] Everyone can see that the book of Revelation can by no
means be explained except by the Lord alone; for each word therein
contains arcana, which could never be known without a particular
enlightenment, and thus revelation; wherefore it has pleased the
Lord to open the sight of my spirit and to teach me. Do not
believe, therefore, that I have taken anything therein from myself,
nor from any angel, but from the Lord alone. The Lord also said to
John through an angel:
Seal not the words of the prophecy of this book (Rev. 22:10).
By which is meant that they are to be made manifest.
APOCALYPSE REVEALED 5
A Summary of the Doctrines
of the Roman Catholic Church and Religion
Since Babylon, which is the Roman Catholic religion, is also
treated of in Revelation, chapters 17, 18, and 19, in the beginning
of these explanations, its doctrinal tenets must be laid open, and in
the following order: of baptism, the eucharist or holy supper,
masses, repentance, justification, purgatory, the seven sacraments,
the saints, and power.
“1. Of baptism, they teach: that Adam, after the offense of
transgression, was wholly changed for the worse, both as to body
and soul; that this sin was transfused into the whole human race;
that this original sin is taken away only by the merit of Christ; and
that the merit of Christ is applied by the sacrament of baptism; and
that thus the whole guilt of original sin is taken away by baptism;
that nevertheless lust remains in the baptized as an incentive to
sins, but not sin itself; that thus they put on Christ, become new
creatures, and obtain a full and complete remission of sins. Baptism
is called the laver of regeneration and of faith. That the baptized,
when grown up, are to be questioned concerning the promises
made by their sponsors; which is the sacrament of confirmation.
That by reason of lapses after baptism, the sacrament of repentance
is necessary.
“2. The eucharist or holy supper. That immediately after
consecration, the true body and the true blood of Jesus Christ are
really and substantially contained under the form of bread and
wine, together with his soul and divinity; the body under the form
of bread, and the blood under the form of wine, by virtue of the
words: but the body itself under the form of wine, and the blood
under the form of bread, and the soul under both, by virtue of a
natural connection and concomitance, whereby the parts of the
Lord Christ are united together, and the divinity by reason of its
APOCALYPSE REVEALED 6
admirable hypostatic union with the body and the soul; thus that
they are as fully contained under one form as under both; in a
word, that the whole and entire Christ exists under the form of the
bread and under every part of that form; and the whole also under
the form of the wine and its parts; that therefore the two forms are
separated, and the bread is given to the laity, and the wine to the
clergy. That water is to be mixed with wine in the cup. That the
laity are to receive the communion from the clergy, and the clergy
from themselves. That the true body and the true blood of Christ,
after consecration, are in the host in the consecrated particles; and
that therefore the host is to be adored when it is shown and carried
about. That this wonderful and particular conversion of the whole
substance of the bread into body, and of the whole substance of the
wine into blood, is called transubstantiation. That the communion
of both forms, under certain conditions, may be granted by the
pontiff. It is called supersubstantial bread, and the bread of angels,
which these eat without any veils; it is also called spiritual food; also
the antidote by which they are freed from sins.
“3. Masses. It is called the sacrifice of the mass, because the
sacrifice by which Christ offered up himself to God the Father, is
represented thereby under the form of the bread and wine; that
thence it is a sacrifice truly propitiatory, pure, and there is nothing
in it except what is holy. That if the people do not commune
sacramentally, but only the minister, then the people commune
spiritually, because the ministers do it, not for themselves only, but
for all the faithful who appertain to the body of Christ. The masses
ought not to be performed in the vulgar tongue, because they
contain the great learning of the faithful people; but that the
ministers may declare some thing concerning it on the Lord’s days.
That it is ordained, that some things which are mystical should be
pronounced with a lower, and other things with a louder, voice;
and, for the purpose of giving majesty to so great a sacrifice which
is offered to God, there should be lights, incense, garments, and
other like things. That it is to be offered for the sins, penalties,
satisfactions, and all the necessities of the living, and also for the
dead. That masses in honor of the saints are thanksgivings because
they intercede when they are implored.
APOCALYPSE REVEALED 7
“4. Repentance. That besides baptism there is the sacrament of
repentance, whereby the benefit of the death and merit of Christ is
applied to those who lapse after baptism; therefore it is called a
kind of laborious baptism. That the parts of repentance are
contrition, confession, and satisfaction. That contrition is the gift
of God, and the impulse of the Holy Spirit, not yet indwelling, but
only moving, therefore it is a disposing. That confession ought to
be made of all mortal sins, even the most secret, and of the
intentions; that sins which are withheld from confession are not
forgiven, but that those which after search do not occur, are
included in confession; that confession ought to be made at least
once a year: that absolution of sins is to be given by the ministers of
the keys, and that they are forgiven on their saying, I absolve; that
absolution is like the act of a judge when sentence is pronounced;
that the more grievous sins are to be absolved by bishops, and the
still more grievous by the pontiff. Satisfaction is made by
satisfactory punishments imposed by the ministry at discretion,
according to the measure of the offense; that when eternal
punishment is remitted, then temporal punishment is remitted
also. That the power of indulgences was left by Christ to the
church, and that the use of them is most salutary.
“5. Justification. That the change from that state in which man is
born a son of Adam, cannot be effected into a state of grace
through the second Adam the Savior, without the washing of
regeneration and faith, or without baptism. That the second
beginning of justification is from preventing grace, which is a
calling, with which man cooperates by converting himself. That
disposition is produced by faith, when man believes those things to
be true which are revealed, to which he is freely moved; also by
hope, when he believes that God is propitious for the sake of
Christ; and by charity, in consequence whereof he begins to love
his neighbor, and to hate sin. That justification, which follows, is
not only remission of sins, but sanctification, and renovation of the
interior man; that then they are not reputed just, but that they are
just, receiving justice in themselves; and because they receive the
merit of Christ’s passion, justification is inserted by faith, hope,
and charity.
Description:APOCALYPSE REVEALED. 2 biblical Hebrew and Greek, others he cited from Volume 1 of Apocalypse Revealed begins Swedenborg's verse-by-.
